A Sewing Gift

Hello

My friend Sarah was feeling under the weather, she, like me, caught the sodding virus  back in March.  A couple of weeks ago, she had nearly lost her voice so I thought a little gift would cheer her up.

As the shops were closed, I had a rummage in my sewing collections to make a gift basket.  It's got some of her favourite yellow ditsy print fabric, a pair of cute scissors in a handmade case, some vintage buttons and a little patchwork wheat bag with home grown lavender in.   The patchwork was left over from a project, there was enough to make an extra three, which have gone into my fabric stash to keep it smelling nice.

Who needs shops, when you have full cupboards and a sewing machine!

Cheers

Sharon

Sewing Room Tidy UP

Hello

My sewing room aka conservatory has been looking so untidy for absolutely ages, stuff everywhere so I had a bit of a tidy up and reorganise.

I put a larger set of drawers into the summerhouse and was going to throw the smaller ones out but when I shifted them out, decided that they didn't look too bad and moved them into the conservatory.  When I put them in the summerhouse they were light purple but the sun has faded them into a duck egg colour which is handy.  The handles finally came for the other set but thought they would look nice on the smaller drawers.   Eventually I would like a set of vintage drawers to replace these but they will do for now.  Top drawer has all sorts of thread in it, next one has all my rulers (except the larger ones), third one has my covered notebooks in, zipped bags.  The bottom one is for "stuff". 

 

The sewing table is home to my 201K, I use it to top stitch my quilts.  The vintage suitcases hold various unfinished projects, the blue one has my "dear jane" quilt patches which I must get on with.  The top brown one has fabric waiting to be made into a quilt and the leather one at the bottom is full of vintage Singer attachments.

On one of my better days when I was recovering from the virus, I repainted my "doorstop" shoe lasts highlighting the raised names with gold enamel paint.

I've been giving my Singer 222K a run out recently, I like to use all my machines so they all have a go to keep the oil flowing and parts moving.  Will give it a clean and oil before swapping it for one of the 221Ks.

The little sewing cabinet in the corner came out of my dad's garage when we cleared it out, Mum used to use it before it went in there, then I used it to keep my spare horse tack in so it was well bashed before I painted it.  

The room is still crowded and old fashioned, but I enjoy working in there, the birds sing in the garden while I sew. 

Cheer

Sharon

Lockdown Bartering - Duvet, Masks, Yeast & a set of Drawers

Hello

My sister and I have been making masks out of an Egyptian cotton duvet which is much closer weave than even the good quality quilting fabric we have.  Its a boring white but the tighter the weave the more effective it is.   The one on the top is Liberty Lawn.

My friend Julie is in the vunerable group so is shielding at home getting her groceries delivered but they didn't have dried yeast.  She always bakes her own bread, has done for years.

Sandi had given her neighbour 2 masks, who asked her if she needed anything, knowing that I was looking for yeast for Julie, she asked if she had any.  Luckily she did and had some spare, she had asked a local bakery if they had any yeast as she couldn't buy any a the shops, they kindly gave 3 small pots of it.  She was happy to donate a pot for Julie.

I took the yeast over to Julie who then gave me cucumber and tomato plants along with an old small set of drawers for me to paint.  I need a new set in the summerhouse as the ones in there are falling to bits.

As usual, forgot to take a before photo.  Here they are, painted with the only suitable paint I had in the shed.   I have ordered some new knobs for it but they haven't arrived yet.

A donated duvet has become a useful set of drawers, Sandi's neighbour will be safer with her masks, Julie is able to bake bread, so we are all happy as no one spent a penny! 

Cheers

Sharon

Cornish Treats in Lockdown

Hello

I have been unwell from the virus since 11th March, had 3 goes when I thought I was over it only for it to clobber me again.  Its debilitating and scary not seeming to make any progress, its like snakes and ladders.  I finally got tested, it was negative but no explanation way I feel so tired and at times quite ill.

My dear friend, Sarah said she had sent a "surprise" in the post.  We sew together so was expecting something sewing related.  How wrong I was.

It was a cream tea in a box all the way from Cornwall.

An afternoon tea in the garden, set a table up, scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam.  The tea is Cornish tea.

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We had a lovely time in the garden, it was sunny.  Just like being on holiday for a while.

A huge thank you to Sarah for a very thoughtful gift, just what a needed when I was feeling low.

Cheers

Sharon

VE Day Bunting made on White 221K

Hello

My pesky cough back in March turned out to be more than just a cough.  Its likely that it was the dreaded lurgie, which has absolutely floored me and I am still not back to normal yet.  Last week I finally got a test and it was negative so that was the best news.  I was worried in case it hadn't actually gone away.  

On Monday, I realised that VE Day was looming so a quick call into my local fabric shop for some material for bunting which arrived super fast.  It was a handy panel with 32 printed flags on it.  Got the White Featherweight out and made two lots of  bunting, one for me and one for my fab sister.  It was lovely to feel well enough to do some sewing on a machine.  Not really used this machine much, I got from an Auction house in the a job lot of other things, some of which I sold.  This machine was a bargain.

We had a tea party in the garden, my partner was in character.  He thought the bearskin add class to the occasion.

Here's the bunting on the summerhouse.

If you look carefully, you can see the Singer advertising signs, wish I could afford original ones.

Burt nicked the bearskin rug and scragged it, naughty Burt.

We had a lovely afternoon tea, our neighbours were out in their gardens and we all toasted Churchhill's speech on the radio at 3pm.  

Take care

Sharon

Featherweight Foot Pedal Bag and cable tidy

hello

Been confined to barracks (well my sewing room aka conservatory) due to a pesky cough.  So have been having a bit of play with my 222 Featherweight.  Going to make a bag to keep the case in,  this is work in progress

I made a few of these drawstring bags to keep the cables and plug in in my featherweight box that have the foot control in the holder in the lid so that the plug doesn't stratch the paintwork on the machine.

The 1951 has a top accessory tray so the foot control and cables go in this bag and tuck it down the side of the machine to store it safely.

I have been looking on Facebook, Blogger a lot over the last couple of days to fill the time in, a very clever lady on Facebook had the idea to use a loo roll tube to keep the cables tidy.  Went a step further and covered it in pretty "sticky back plastic" in the tried and tested Blue Peter way!

I cannot for the life of me remember which Facebook page the idea was on so apols not to give a link.

Cheers

Sharon

Leatherwork Workshop

Hello

Had a little outing with my big sister, we went on a Leatherwork 1 day course at ArtisOn  on Friday.  It was a full day course, in the morning we learned how to dye the leather, then using neatsfoot oil followed by a wax mixture conditioned the leather ready to work.

We made a little coin purse with it, the hand stitching was a bit harder than I thought!

Then after a yummy two course lunch, our next project was a belt.  The belt blanks were already dyed for us, we had to put an edge on the leather with a special tool, then burnish the edge to make it smooth.  We fitted the buckle then after gluing, hand stitched it.

So a new hobby to fit in around my sewing and machine repairs.

Sharon
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